


Through the Pages

by SunshineScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: A weird crossover, M/M, Scorpius gets very stressed, The Wizard of Oz - Freeform, a special appearance from peeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23575684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineScorpius/pseuds/SunshineScorpius
Summary: Albus and Scorpius are volunteering to read books to children stuck in St Mungos, but during their first reading session, one of the children gets a hold of Scorpius’ wand and Albus winds up in a bit of a sticky situation involving a lion, a tin man, a scarecrow and a girl named Dorothy.
Relationships: James Sirius Potter & Lily Luna Potter, Scorpius Malfoy & James Sirius Potter, Scorpius Malfoy & Lily Luna Potter, Scorpius Malfoy & Molly Weasley II, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	Through the Pages

“Come on, Albus, it’ll be fun!” Scorpius encouraged as he pulled Albus along, barely balancing the seven children’s books in his arm and his bag on the same shoulder, but stubbornly refusing to let go of Albus’ hand.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” Albus responded, trying his best to stop Scorpius walking so quickly. His boyfriend often forgot his ridiculously long legs didn’t accommodate to Albus’ smaller ones. Scorpius only flashed him a quick smile.

“I know you like to moan, but you did agree, remember?”

“After two weeks of convincing,” Albus reminded.

“Yes, you were quite a stubborn one to convince,” he stopped and turned to him, allowing Albus to catch his breath. “Do you need me to root through my bag for the pros and cons list?”

“You have it with you?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I thought you might need reminding,” he said innocently.

Albus snorted and lightly pushed him, a small hint to keep moving. “I don’t need reminding, it’s good for the kids, it’s educational, blah, blah blah,” he nagged, using his free hands to imitate a talking mouth. Scorpius couldn’t hide his amusement no matter how hard he tried and rolled his eyes fondly.

Together, they had agreed to travel to Saint Mungos and read books to some of the long-term patients on the paediatrics ward. There were a lot of benefits, educational and employment wise, but Albus knew Scorpius only signed their names up because he loved doing good things, and he loved kids too. During the school holidays, Scorpius had raided his local book shop for popular muggle children books (figuring they’d want something new from the popular wizarding ones) and had brought the whole shop (or so Albus liked to tease him about). Though, he’d managed to convince him to only – _only_ \- bring ten to the first reading.

Now, they were heading to Saint Mungos for their first session (every Monday evening for six weeks), and Albus wondered what the hell he was getting himself in for. Though he didn’t have long to ponder it as he was forced through the floo first as Scorpius shuffled the books in his arms and tried to fit the remaining seven into his bag. Albus shouted his destination and was spat out into the hospital wing, the bustling noise of the waiting room coming to ear.

For a brief second, Albus worried an environment like this might trigger an anxiety attack in Scorpius due to being painfully reminded of his mum, but he needn’t have worried because when Scorpius popped up, he took his hand and led him straight up to the children’s ward. It was quieter up here, the children settling in for the night. Scorpius took the lead and introduced himself to the kind woman on the reception desk, who then showed them the way to the ward of the children they’d be reading to.

There were seven children all dressed in pyjamas sat on bean bags surrounding a little table. They were each wearing a nametag to let Albus and Scorpius know who they were, which was a relief to Albus because he’d never remember seven kids names. Their beds had been abandoned as they settled in for some reading. A healer was just finishing speaking to them, smiling when he saw Scorpius and Albus walked through the door. Stupidly, Albus squeezed Scorpius’ hand tighter, feeling a little nervous.

Scorpius, however, forever in his element, stepped forward. “Hi,” he greeted with a large smile.

“Hiii,” they chorused back. The healer wished them a good luck and told them to press a button in case they were needed and left them to it.

Scorpius took no time in dropping into one of the spare bean bags and rifling through his bag. He pulled out his wand, settling it down on the floor before pulling out the books and passing each of them to the children. “I’m Scorpius and this is Albus and we’re going to be reading to you tonight. I brought a few books,” he explained to the kids who watched him in fascination. “I thought I’d let you guys choose one?”

“I’ve never heard of any of these,” one of the kids said, seemingly an older girl of the group. Albus dropped his bag next to Scorpius and pulled up another bean bag.

“That’s because they’re muggle books, I figured you’d like something different,” Scorpius explained, flashing a bright smile their way.

“I want this one,” a boy announced, picking up a book and holding it high in the air. He must have only been about four, all bright eyes and full of light. He was sort of how Albus imagined Scorpius was at that age – enthusiastic, intelligent, eager and the bright curly hair certainly didn’t help, though it wasn’t as light and definitely messier than Draco Malfoy would have let his son wear it.

“What’s your name?” Albus asked, reaching forward to grab the book.

“Joey,” he said, grinning at Albus.

“Nice to meet you, Joey,” he replied. Albus passed the book to Scorpius and shrugged.

“The Wizard of Oz,” Scorpius announced the book title, “do we have an agreement?”

There was a murmured nod and approval from the children and Scorpius grinned, crossing his legs awkwardly in the bean bag (he was far too tall to be sitting in a bean bag) and took a deep breath. Albus reached over and linked their arms, letting Scorpius know he was there for him. Reading to children or not, Scorpius still got nervous in situations like this. He flashed Albus a smile and opened the book to the first page.

“Everyone comfortable?” he asked and the children nodded, shuffling around in their bean bags for the most comfortable position. Once ready, Scorpius began.

“Far away in a little town in Kansas, a girl name Dorothy lived with her uncle, aunt and little dog, Toto,” Scorpius began in a soothing tone, one that could put even Albus to sleep. He loved listening to Scorpius read; it was maybe his favourite pastime, down by the lake on a warm summers day. “One day, a horrible twister came to the town. It was very strong and could rip out trees and blow houses away.”

Scorpius put on a ridiculously high voice for the amusement of the kids as he read Dorothy’s next line. “Uncle! Hurry! Come down here,” he read, getting a giggle out of the children. As he read on, the children got more and more immersed into the story, letting out audible gasps or sounds of wonderment at different parts, asking questions when they didn’t understand something. They became particularly distressed when they found out Toto never made it into the basement and was trapped inside the house and Dorothy went running after him.

Albus’ vision blurred, the room spinning at a hundred miles per hour. Scorpius started shouting but Albus couldn’t hear what he was saying. He saw the brief bright flash of what could have been a wand but might have been the sun… the Sun? Why was the sun here? It was early evening and they were inside.

The spinning stopped and Albus landed harshly, soft green grass beneath him and the sun blaring down. He was surrounded by a bunch of little… people? And a young girl carrying a small dog and everyone was cheering. Albus took a moment to look around; there were a few old styled houses and a castle in the distance, but Albus had no clue where he was. One house stood out: an old wooden one that seemed to hold no real structure.

There was something certain though: he was no longer in Saint Mungos.

“Scorpius?” he called, looking around him and somehow hoping he would pop up somewhere. When he had no response, Albus sighed to himself and rubbed his eyes. “Where am I?” Albus said to the girl. “Who are you?”

“I’m Dorothy,” she responded.

“And you’re in Munchkin land,” one of the little people replied.

Albus thought for sure he was going to pass out.

#

“ALBUS?” Scorpius shouted, slamming the book shut and grabbing his wand off Tiffany – one of the children they were reading to. “Oh no no no no no no no no no no,” he muttered, heart pounding. “Al?” he called again, but his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s in there,” Joey said, pointing to the book on the floor where Scorpius had dropped it when retrieving his wand.

Scorpius looked at the book. “In the book?”

“Yeah!”

“I saw it too!” another boy – Alex – cried. “He went _woo-wooo-wooo-whooooosssshhhh,_ ” Alex said, imitating a tornado by spinning in circles before diving to the floor. “Into the book!”

“Wait,” Scorpius said, his heart pounding. He had to stop a moment and take a deep breath before he spiralled into a panic attack – and it had been weeks since his last one. “You’re all telling me that Tiffany magicked Albus into the book?” Scorpius dived for the book and held it to his chest, almost like he was trying to hug Albus.

“But how?”

Scorpius ignored the question, unable to answer it (and Scorpius was not used to not having the answers to something) and instead pulled the book away from his chest to observe it. He took a deep breath and slowly opened the book to the page where they’d finished and hoped to whatever higher power there was that somehow Albus wasn’t in there and something else had happened instead.

But sure enough, right next to the drawing of Dorothy and the Munchkins, was Albus. A smaller version, but it was unmistakingly him. The same messy black hair, dressed in his school uniform, and these big bright green eyes. Cartoon Albus was kind of cute, Scorpius thought.

The question was: how the _hell_ does Scorpius get his boyfriend out of a book? And who could he ask for help? And why did they volunteer to do this in the first place? If Scorpius didn’t drag Albus here in the first place, then he wouldn’t have trapped his own boyfriend inside of a children’s book.

“I have to go,” Scorpius said, gathering all the books into his bag, keeping Albus close.

“But you didn’t finish the story,” one kid whined just as he was about to stand up. Scorpius sighed, knowing he couldn’t let them down. He decided to stay and read a different book to the children, unwilling to open the other one – even though he wasn’t quite sure why. Once relieved from his duty by the night staff, Scorpius sprinted through the hospital and back through the floo and into the school.

He kept going and going and going until he reached Gryffindor tower, completely out of breath, his legs burning and lungs suffering for air as he knocked on the portrait.

“Password?” The Fat Lady asked.

“I need to speak to James, James Potter,” he wheezed, having to keel over to help his struggling lungs.

“Password,” she said again and Scorpius dropped to his knees. It was useless, he had no idea what the password was. He looked around, hoping to see another student coming back to the dorm – it was nearing the end of third-years curfew, so surely some of them would be wandering back by now.

Scorpius pulled himself up and leaned against the wall, both his and Albus’ bags heavy on his shoulder so he dropped them to the floor, sighing as the books tumbled out of his. He ignored it and instead opened back to the page in The Wizard of Oz where Albus had become trapped and sighed to himself.

“I’ll get you out, Al, I promise,” he said to Albus before closing the book again, briefly wondering how Albus was feeling about this situation. Was he entrapped in the dark whilst the book was closed, or was he simply trapped in that part of the story playing over and over until someone turned the page. Scorpius sighed to himself and hugged the book to his chest. “I’ll figure it out,” he said to himself. “Somehow.”

“Are you lost?” came a voice, startling Scorpius out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a seventh-year Gryffindor standing over him, a scowl on his face. Scorpius scrambled to his feet.

“No, erm, sorry, I’m waiting for someone,” Scorpius mumbled, biting his lip.

“Right,” the boy said, turning to the portrait and whispering the password, the portrait swinging open moments later.

Scorpius took a deep breath before he said, “would you mind telling James – James Potter – that I’m here?”

The seventh-year looked him up and down before he shrugged and nodded, disappearing into the portrait hole. It was a few more minutes before the portrait wall opened again and James and Lily popped out. James’ hair was an unusual mess, his glasses covering his tired eyes, whereas Lily looked full of life.

“Lily, what are you doing, it’s past curfew?” Scorpius said immediately and Lily rolled her eyes.

“What’s up, Scorpius? We thought you’d be Albus,” James said, raising his eyebrows. Scorpius winced at the sound of irritation in his voice. With N.E.W.Ts just around the corner, James was getting rather stressed and Scorpius hated that he was only going to make it worse.

“Before you get mad at me, I’m really sorry!”

“Really sorry for what?”

“Albus is, er -” Scorpius held out the book – “kind of trapped in here.”

James turned around to the portrait and muttered the password. “Come in,” he sighed.

The three of them crawled back into the portrait hole and James led them over to a desk where he was clearly studying beforehand. Scorpius felt bad for disturbing him. He felt exposed, the only person dressed in green in a _very_ red house, but knowing he was with James gave him a little more confidence. Ever since their return from time last year, James has been very protective of both he and Albus.

“So… what?” James asked as they settled down.

Scorpius placed the book on the desk and sighed. “A kid at our reading grabbed my wand and well… Albus ended up in the book.”

“ _In_ it?” Lily asked.

“That is what he said, Lils,” James teased.

“What do I do? Help me!” Scorpius said, leaning forward and stopping the sibling bickering before it started.

“Okay, deep breaths, Scorpius,” James said, “show me.”

Scorpius took a deep breath and nodded, opening the page to the one that Albus was on – the one that Scorpius last read to the kids. Sure enough, cartoon Albus was still there lying on the grass looking slightly bewildered surrounded by Dorothy and the rest of the Munchkins.

“Why don’t we just… read to the end and see what happens?” James suggests, taking the book from Scorpius.

Scorpius quickly snatched it back. “But what if nothing happens? Or what if he dies?”

James blinked. “It’s a children’s book, Scorpius.”

“But I don’t know how it ends!”

“I’m pretty sure no one dies,” James said.

“Oh, the witch does, doesn’t she?” Lily said.

“The witch is already dead, the house crushed her,” Scorpius explained, pointing to Dorothy’s house in the background. James reached over and pulled the book towards him, going to turn the page over when Scorpius slapped his hand away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea!”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Do you really want me to answer that question?” Scorpius asked and James stared at him with a serious expression before nodding. Scorpius shook his head and pulled the book back, closing it and hugging it to his chest.

“I think,” James started, leaning back in his chair. “That we should all go to bed and pick this up in the morning, Lily is going to be half asleep any moment and Albus is in safe hands with you, right Scorpius?”

“Of course he is,” Scorpius assured.

“So, tomorrow?” Lily asked.

Reluctantly, Scorpius nodded. Maybe James was right, there was nothing they could do now, not that Scorpius had any chance of sleeping tonight without Albus by his side. They always slept together; they had for quite a long time now. Scorpius hadn’t slept alone at Hogwarts since the events of his fourth year over a year ago.

He sniffled slightly, not realising there were tears starting to form as he stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder, the book still clutched to his chest. Lily hugged him as soon as he stood, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tight. Lily’s hugs were the best, warm and comforting, they made him feel loved and like there were good things in the world. Lily had that power about her; she was a burst of fresh air in a crowded room, a light in a dark tunnel.

James patted him on the back as they led him towards the portrait hole, telling him to do his best to get some rest and for Scorpius to join them at breakfast the next morning. He bid them a goodnight, but instead of going to the Slytherin dorms, Scorpius went straight to the library to quickly check some books out before it closed for the evening.

He had no idea what to really look for, ending up getting some charm books out to see if he could find a spell that would extract Albus from the book, as well as a book on child development that went in depth about the different bursts of accidental magic that children could perform. Though most children didn’t have a wand, but it must have happened in a lot of cases that children get a hold of their parents wands. Scorpius did one time when he was younger, accidentally throwing flour in his fathers face when they were doing their weekly baking sessions. His mum laughed quite hard at that one.

Once he’d gotten a few books checked out, Scorpius headed back to the common room. He quickly put his bag in his room and got changed out of his school uniform before gathering up the children’s book, the books from the library, a blanket and his wand and went downstairs into the common room. It was much emptier than the Gryffindor common room had been, younger students retreating to bed whilst the older N.E.W.T students were either also getting an early night or studying at the tables. Scorpius claimed an armchair by the fire and placed the blanket around his shoulders, opening the first book.

#

By the time morning rolled around, Scorpius was knee-deep in pieces of parchment full of research, but only one had a potential solution to it – not including James’ theory of just reading on and seeing if Albus popped out the other end. He barely noticed it was morning and only realised when the common room became a little noisier with students leaving for breakfast before class.

With bleary eyes, Scorpius gathered his research and went upstairs to his dorm and putting it all in his bag, along with the things he needed for a day of lessons – he should really learn how to put an extension charm on his bag. He quickly changed into a fresh set of uniform and brushed his teeth before leaving the dorm with his bag without barely looking in the mirror.

The lack of sleep the night before was catching up on him as he reached the Great Hall, seeing James waving him over to the Gryffindor table. He hesitated for a moment, he’d never sat there without Albus before, but he took a deep breath and headed towards them, taking a seat next to Lily. Lily automatically took him up in a side hug which Scorpius was thankful for and James raised his eyebrows at him.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” He asked. Scorpius refrained from saying that he definitely would never sleep again as long as Albus wasn’t around.

“Good morning to you too,” he replied instead. James made him a cup of tea and pushed it towards him and for a moment Scorpius was shocked that James remembered how he liked it.

“And did you forget to brush your hair or have you been dating Albus so long you’ve forgotten what a hairbrush is?”

Scorpius actually let out a laugh, despite his down mood, but the movement made the headache that had been brewing since early that morning worse. He winced slightly, taking his hands from around his warm mug to rub circles on his temples.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Just a headache,” he said, eyes still squeezed shut. “And is it really loud in here? It sounds really loud,” he asked, the sounds of students around him getting louder with each passing second. Scorpius forced himself to open his eyes despite the pounding headache, knowing that if he kept them shut, the noise would only get louder. He looked around, seeing that the hall was surprisingly empty and that it wasn’t really all that loud.

James sighed. “I’m guessing that’s a no to sleep,” he said, pushing a plate of food towards him. “At least eat.”

“I don’t need to eat, I need to help Albus.”

“Right, but when we get him out – which we will – I’ll be the one he’s murdering for not looking after you,” James admonished and Lily giggled and even though he didn’t want to agree, Scorpius knew he was right.

Despite that, Scorpius pushed the plate away. “I don’t need looking after, I’m not a child. Why does everyone always treat me like a child?”

James visibly softened and he took his glasses off. “I don’t think you’re a child, I’m just trying to look out for you like Albus would want me to.”

Scorpius softened too, realising he was being a little unfair, James was just looking out for him. “I’m sorry, I’m just tired and stressed out.”

“So, what do we do?” James said.

“Well,” Lily began, sitting forward. “We head to the library during lunch or any free time we have, James will get a permission slip from a teacher to use the restricted section as he’s the oldest and we start researching, though something tells me Scorpius has already started,” she winked at him.

Scorpius flushed in embarrassment. “Maybe there was a reason I didn’t sleep, but I only came up with a potential spell that may or may not even work, the actual purpose for the spell was a little different to our current circumstances, but I could ask Flitwick to help me practice it, ‘anything for his star pupil’ as Albus would say,” Scorpius said, mocking Albus the best his could.

“Great, that’s a great start; let’s meet at lunch in the library then?” Lily asked as she stood, flicking her long red hair over her shoulder to make room for her bag.

“Aye, aye, captain,” James said, saluting her. They did a little handshake as a way of saying goodbye and Lily kissed Scorpius on the crown of the head before she dashed from the Great Hall. Scorpius distantly heard her greeting friends in the Entrance Hall.

“I should probably get to class too,” Scorpius mumbled, but James pushed a slice of toast his way and raised his eyebrows. Scorpius sighed but picked it up and ate it, if only because James wouldn’t leave him alone until he did. “Thanks, James,” Scorpius said as he stood after finishing. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

“I’ll bring us some sandwiches,” James shouted after him as Scorpius started making his way out and to the Charms classroom, only just realising that he has to not only spend a day in classes _without_ Albus, but also lie to his Professors on his whereabouts. As well as try to focus whilst his head felt like exploding and his eyes were drooping closed.

It was going to be a long morning.

#

“Lily, are you coming to lunch?” Harper asked as they were packing up from Transfiguration. Lily threw her bag over her shoulder and shook her head.

“Promised James I’d eat with him and help him study in the library, he works better when he has someone forcing him to do so,” she shrugged.

Harper smiled, “sure, catch you at dinner then,” she said and Lily nodded. They don’t share any other lessons together as Harper was in Hufflepuff, they rarely see each other outside of the two classes they usually shared and the occasional meal times they spent together.

Lily left the classroom and made her way to the library, desperately hoping James would remember to bring coffee with him along with the lunch he said he would bring. The morning seemed to have dragged on and Lily was barely clinging onto a wakeful state as she entered the library, seeing Scorpius already sat at a desk with a few books scattered on top of it along with a rather large amount of parchment. He looked up as he saw her, eyes squinted to try and relieve his headache and Lily thought no amount of exhaustion she felt even matched a slither of what he was feeling.

It breaks her heart to see him like this, so wrapped in his own mind, thoughts clouded with so much anxiety that he struggled to grasp onto reality. She hasn’t seen it often, maybe once before, but Albus was always here to help him whenever it happened and now he wasn’t. So, it was down to her and James.

She smiled at him from a distance and made her way over, dropping her bag beside his and instantly pulling one of the books in front of her.

“Any luck?”

Scorpius shook his head. “Flitwick said he can help me with the spell, but not until Friday lunch which is too late,” he sighed.

Lily smiled at him. “We’ll figure something out,” she assured, reaching over to give his hand a squeeze. He only weakly smiled back.

“Hello everyone,” James’ voice sounded as he reached their table. “I come bearing gifts,” he announced, placing the sandwiches on the table as well a flask full with coffee. Lily instantly reached forward for the coffee and poured herself one with the handy little cups they come with and took a thankful sip.

“I’m guessing the no-coffee diet is going well,” James laughed and shook his head.

“No-coffee diet?” Scorpius questioned, looking at Lily. “Is a Potter capable of going longer than a few hours without coffee without going into shock?”

“No, we’re not,” James said at the same time Lily repeated what Scorpius had said in a high-pitched mocking tone. James rolled his eyes. “I got the permission slip for the restricted section, what types of books am I looking for?”

Scorpius – who had clearly been doing his research – handed James a list of books he’d already written down on a piece of parchment. James took it, took a few bites of a sandwich, and left for the restricted section, leaving Lily and Scorpius to it. They worked in mostly silence. Lily knew Scorpius preferred that, even though she was more a discussion person, but she knew he was stressed so adjusted to his needs.

James didn’t take long, only managing to find two out of five of the books on Scorpius’ list but Scorpius said it was better than nothing. James took one whilst Scorpius took the other. They fell back into silence, only talking when someone found something that might be of use and Scorpius wrote it down on a piece of paper.

It wasn’t long before James – who had the attention span of a three-year-old – spoke up with a sigh. “Why don’t we just try reading on?” he said, picking up the book which Scorpius had opened onto the page.

“No, James,” Scorpius scolded, snatching it back. “We don’t know what could happen, whether it might cause harm to Albus, or if moving him along in the story could get him stuck there forever, it’s too risky!” and with that, Scorpius closed the book and placed it between another two books he’d picked out so it was out of James’ reach.

“But, Scorpius, what if it-”

“Hey, sorry,” a voice interrupted, and all three of them looked to see a younger student, maybe a second year, dressed in Slytherin robes. “Has anyone seen Albus? He was supposed to be helping me with my Potions homework.”

Scorpius gaped and physically face-palmed, clearly just remembering that Albus had other commitments other than just classes that day.

James smirked. “I think he’s a little booked right now.”

Lily couldn’t help but let out a snort, quickly covering her mouth just in time to see the Slytherin boy pull a confused face. Scorpius was also fighting to hide a smile and Lily was glad that he took the joke fairly well.

“He’s not very well, I’m sorry, I completely forgot to find you at breakfast to tell you,” Scorpius lied smoothly. “I could help you later, if you’d like?” Scorpius offered.

“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just wait until he’s better, it’s not due until Friday,” he said. “Thanks anyway,” he waved awkwardly and walked off. Lily saw Scorpius slump out the corner of his eye, but quickly shake it off and went back to a book. Lily caught James’ eye and shrugged.

Scorpius stood up, muttering something about getting another book and heading off down one of the bookshelves. James seemed to take the opportunity of his absence and grabbed the book from between the other two.

“What are you doing?” Lily scolded, quietly so Scorpius wouldn’t hear from the aisles.

“Testing a theory,” James replied, opening the book.

“I don’t think we should.”

“Come on, Lil, Scorpius doesn’t need to know.”

“James.”

“Lily.”

But before Lily could stop him, James read the page out loud in a hushed voice and turned it over.

And sure enough, cartoon Albus was on the next page.

#

“Thank you for saving us from the evil witch,” Albus heard the Munchkins thank Dorothy. He shook his head, hoping the movement would wake him from this strange dream – yet, somehow, it felt real. Albus rubbed his head and slowly sat up, watching as the Munchkins presented Dorothy with a pair of red slippers.

Dorothy never took the shoes right away. “I just want to get home to Kansas and be with my family again,” she said.

“You and me both,” Albus muttered.

“Put on the ruby slippers and go to the Wizard of Oz. He can make any wish come true and he will help you get home,” the Munchkin said, and Albus sat up in realisation. Maybe the Wizard could help Albus too – if, of course, any of this was _actually_ real.

Which would be totally and utterly insane.

Albus stood up and approached Dorothy, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves. “Maybe I could join you?” he asked, pretty sure he was going off-script – but then, he wasn’t even supposed to be here.

“Sure,” she said, nervously. “It’d be nice to have a friend.”

And with that, the two kids and a dog set off down the yellow brick road, the Munchkins waving them off as they embarked on a mission.

Albus could only hope this one wouldn’t nearly kill him. He was also just a tiny bit jealous that he didn’t get his own pair of red shoes.

As they followed the yellow brick road, just up ahead was a scarecrow. Albus knew the story of the Wizard of Oz, had even seen the musical version when he was much younger, but it had been a while since he last revisited it. If memory served, the scarecrow would be in need of a brain – he was lucky this was a children’s book, or no doubt he would have to sacrifice his own.

The birds pecked away at the scarecrow and Albus only half-listened to the conversation between him and Dorothy, thinking distantly of his dad and how he would be _freaking_ out should he be in the scarecrow’s position right now.

“Maybe you could come with us to see the Wizard of Oz!” Dorothy exclaimed and Albus thought that this girl was too kind for her own good. She reminded him a lot of Scorpius, who would also go out of his way to help anyone in need. The thought made him long for him and he looked around, as if hoping that he would still appear.

Surely, he was here, Albus thought. If Albus had somehow been magically sucked into a book, then surely Scorpius would have followed, or maybe even one of the kids they were reading to. Did Scorpius even know he was gone?

Albus barely had time to think when the world suddenly went black.

#

Scorpius was humming to himself as he retrieved the last book he needed from the shelf and headed back towards the table where Lily and James were sat. There was a little spark of hope in his heart that maybe one of them had figured some kind of spell or found some kind of solution, but that spark fizzled when he saw the book sat in front of James, _open._

“James, what are you doing?” Scorpius’ asked, his voice louder than he intended, and James slammed the book shut, encasing Albus in darkness. “Did you read it?”

“No,” James replied, but the smirk on his face said otherwise. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at him. “Maybe,” he admitted, “I was just testing a theory; I thought you’d be supportive of that!”

“I would be, but not when my boyfriends life hangs on the line,” Scorpius retorted, leaning across the table and placing it on top of the books he needed to put back before class.

James sighed and held his head in his hands. “For the hundredth time, Albus is not going to die.”

“But he could get trapped, then what?”

James remained quiet. Scorpius said no more, but instead packed away his things quickly into his bag and scooped up the books he needed to put back. “Forget it, I’ll figure it out on my own,” he mumbled before taking off down one of the aisles. He barely registered Lily and James both calling after him as he shoved the books onto the shelf and left the library.

He briefly considered _not_ going to his classes for the afternoon, but soon found himself outside the history of magic classroom knowing he’d be full of guilt if he didn’t go – he also owed it to Albus to take any notes as it was Scorpius’ fault he was missing class in the first place.

The afternoon passed in a slow haze, the exhaustion from not sleeping the night before creeping up on him. He would have fallen asleep in herbology if they didn’t have to be standing up the entire time slaving over a finger-biting plant. When he could retire to the common room – completely skipping dinner – it was almost a relief.

He picked a table in the corner that was rarely taken and pulled the books out of his bag. The first one was a book on advanced magic and he scanned the contents page before deciding to slowly flick through it just in case what he was looking for was only small and hidden away by other things. He was slowly losing focus, his eyes going blurry, his head heavy, when he was startled awake by someone pulling up a chair.

“You look like you could use some company,” Molly Weasley Junior said, smiling at him kindly. Her red hair – that had been recently cut short – was worn half-up half-down. He had become better acquainted with Molly over this year and the end of last, the only other member of Albus’ family who had been sorted into Slytherin. Their first few years were spent with small talk, but Albus socially isolated himself from most of his family – including Molly.

She was kind, though, Scorpius had learned. He liked having her around, she treated him like a friend – he had told her this once, to which she replied, “we are friends, Scorpius.”

“Hi,” Scorpius greeted, smiling at her the best he could when he felt like he could pass out at any moment.

“What’re you working on?” She asked, pulling one of the books towards her.

“Homework,” he lied.

Molly rolled her eyes and looked at him. “Okay, I’ll confess, James asked me to check on you. He was really worried at dinner, especially when you didn’t show.”

“I’m fine, Molly,” he tried to assure.

Molly scoffed. “Yeah, and I don’t have red hair.”

“Well, if you want to be technical, you don’t, you have ginger hair but you just dye it redder and-”

“Scorpius,” Molly cut him off with a deadpanned look. He smirked at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. “Well anyway, he and Lily explained everything and I’m here to lend a helping hand, if you’ll have me.”

Scorpius was a little taken aback by the offer and looked at her, seeing nothing but sincerity behind her brown eyes. And he burst into tears. It was like the dam that had been holding the water back was broken by Molly’s genuine act of kindness. He hadn’t realised how refreshing it would feel to let out all this emotion he’d been holding back without even realising it.

Molly didn’t seem surprised at his out-burst; she simply took one of his hands in hers and gently rubbed her thumb across his knuckles.

“I’m sorry,” he sniffled, using the sleeve of his cardigan on his free hand to wipe at his cheeks. “I just don’t know what to do and I miss him so much.”

It’s very rare Scorpius comes to a puzzle he cannot solve. There have been a few in the past – the puzzle of his father who’s walls he could never seem to break down (until recently when Scorpius went missing); the puzzle of his mothers illness and how to cure it (a puzzle he was worried he would never solve); the puzzle of being stuck in time with no way of getting back; and now the puzzle of how to rescue Albus from a children’s book.

It was almost absurd to think about, how something seemingly funny on the outside could actually be rather scary.

Scorpius looked around the desk, searching for the book. When he never found it, his heart dropped to his stomach. He moved the books around frantically, Molly asking him what was wrong but he didn’t have time to answer her. Coming up empty on the desk, Scorpius then checked his school bag.

“Where is it?” he muttered to himself, rummaging through hoping that it would just magically pop up.

“Where’s what?” Molly asked.

“The book, the book that Albus is stuck in, it’s not here.”

“Well,” Molly said, getting up from her chair. “Let’s not panic just yet, when do you last remember having it?”

“I don’t know, I thought I put it in my bag, it should be here,” he said as one by one he pulled out all the items from his bag and threw them carelessly onto the table. Molly was talking to him but Scorpius was barely listening to a word she was saying. Then it hit him. “The library, I must have left it in the library. I must have put it back with my other books, I’m such an idiot!” he scolded himself, throwing his bag onto the chair and making a beeline for the door.

“Wait, wait, Scorpius!” Molly called, grabbing him by his arm. “It’s past curfew, the library is closed.”

He resisted the urge to scream out and turned to Molly. “I need to go get him.”

Molly grinned, her eyes glinting mischievously. “Scorpius Malfoy, are you ready to be a rebel for the first time in your life?” she asked.

Scorpius grimaced. “Second time, actually, and as I recall it didn’t go too well the first time.” Molly just continued to grin at him. Scorpius dropped his stance. “How are we going to sneak into the library after curfew without James’ invisibility cloak.”

“Wait here,” Molly said and took off in a run to her dorm. She returned two minutes later holding a piece of parchment. “With this.”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“The Marauders Map, yes.” Scorpius was just about to ask how Molly had it when she started explaining. “Uncle Harry gifted this to Teddy when he started school, who gave it James after he graduated. James gave it to Freddie when he got the cloak, who gave it to Roxanne last week as a present as he’s graduating in a couple of months, and Roxanne just happened to accidentally leave it on the table when we were having dinner together yesterday. I was going to give it back to her but I completely forgot about it and well, I guess we could use it, right?”

Scorpius stared her sceptically. “I don’t know if we should.”

“Don’t you trust me?” she asked.

“Dad always told me never to trust a Weasley,” he responded with a hint of unease in his voice.

“Your dad would be right there, let’s go.”

That was how he found himself following Molly Weasley down the hallway, the Marauders Map open and visible using her wand light. Whenever a teacher or prefect would close in on them, Molly would _nox_ her wand and pull Scorpius aside, waiting until the coast was clear.

It was a miracle, really, that they made it to the library in one piece.

“ _Alohomora,”_ Scorpius whispered, unlocking the door to the library effortlessly. They snuck into the library, quietly closing the door behind them and Molly put the Map away in her robe pocket. They lit their wands and Scorpius led them over to where he was sat with Lily and James at lunch. He then ventured down the aisle where he put the books back, Molly close behind him.

“I put it somewhere in this aisle, along with the other books so it has to be here somewhere,” Scorpius whispered. Molly walked to the other side of the bookshelf and began looking through the books, having to tiptoe to see the ones on the higher shelves. They were looking for a few minutes before Scorpius mentally slapped himself, accidentally letting out a small groan. “ _Accio_ Wizard of Oz,” he muttered, waving his wand and once again scolding himself for momentarily forgetting he was an _actual wizard._

Within seconds the book came flying off the shelf, barely missing Molly’s head as it flew towards Scorpius’ hand. He caught it, immediately hugging it to his chest and muttering an apology to Albus. Scorpius could only hope James would never find out, he would be very disappointed in him after he promised he’d keep Albus safe.

“Great, let’s get out of here.”

Scorpius nodded, briefly opening the book to check it _was_ the one that Albus was trapped in before turning on his heels to follow Molly.

He paused, however, when he heard books falling from another aisle followed by a loud and obnoxious cackle. “Students out of bed, I hear,” came a voice and Scorpius sighed loudly, grabbing Molly and pulling her behind a bookshelf.

“How did Peeves know we were here?” she whisper-shouted to him.

“I don’t know!” he replied just as frantically. “He’s a ghost, maybe he just knows things.”

“A ghost, you say? A ghost I am not,” Peeves sang, popping up in front of them. Scorpius jumped backwards, nearly knocking a few books off the shelf himself. “Well if it isn’t a Weasel and the child of Voldemort who’s friends with a Potty, what brings you two to the library at night?”

“Nothing, Peeves,” Molly said. “We must be going now, though.”

“So soon?” he pouted, balancing his chin on his hands.

“Yes, so soon,” Molly agreed, grabbing Scorpius’ hand and pulling him towards the door.

“But Peevesy wants to play,” he sang, following them and a rapid speed. “And who better to play with-”

“We really must be going, past curfew,” Molly reminded. “Please, Peeves?” she begged.

Peeves smirked. “Would be a shame if the little students got caught now, wouldn’t it? Snaky Slytherins slithering soundlessly, or perhaps… not?” There was an almighty _crash_ where Peeves had lifted a desk and let it fall back down to the floor, colliding with chairs on its way down.

“Peeves, please!” Molly begged again, her whisper less of a whisper and more of a loud hissing noise. Scorpius, however, wasn’t planning on bartering with a Poltergeist and decided the best cause of action was to run. He grabbed Molly’s hand and took off, forcing her to follow at the same speed.

They ran towards the library doors, Peeves on their tails throwing books off shelves and desks everywhere, shouting and chanting about kids being out of bed. They were going to get caught, Scorpius just _knew_ it. They reached the doors and ran out, locking it behind them. That’s when Molly pulled the Map back out of her pocket and said the words to bring it to life.

McGonagall was walking down the hall with Madame Pince.

“This way,” Molly said, pulling Scorpius into an empty classroom as silently as possible.

They sat behind the door, knees pulled to their chests as they tried to calm their breathing. They could hear McGonagall and Pince shouting at Peeves – at least he was getting blamed for the mess – and they could only hope Peeves wouldn’t rat them out. When they heard the doors to the library close, Molly slowly stood to look out the window in the door.

“I think the coast is clear, they’re in the library,” she whispered. Scorpius looked at the Map to check no other teachers were coming and nodded to her.

Scorpius opened the door quietly, allowing Molly to step out first, before closing and locking it behind him. As quietly as they could, they ran down the hallway and towards the stairs, checking the Map as often as they could to avoid as many people as possible. The prefects had finished their rounds and if they did run into anybody, it would be a teacher – which meant they wouldn’t be able to talk their way out under any circumstances.

It seemed like the corridor halls were getting longer and longer as they made their way back to the Slytherin common room, around twists and turns and passing portraits that yelled at them for having a light on. When they finally got back and were safe inside the walls of the Slytherin common room, they collapsed on the now-empty sofa and let out a deep breath.

“Peeves always terrified me,” Scorpius muttered breathlessly. “I would rather be trapped in a room with the Bloody Baron than him.”

“Really? Our ghost scares me so much,” Molly replied, just as breathless.

“Well, we got Albus back,” Scorpius said, looking at the book in his hand and smiling to himself. James would never have to know he lost him – and neither would Albus.

Molly took the book from him and opened it out of curiosity. Albus had moved along a few pages where James had tried his little experiment, and Scorpius couldn’t help but notice added speech where Albus had clearly taken the book into his own hands.

“Still no idea how to fix this?” Molly asked, running a finger over cartoon Albus. Scorpius shook his head sadly. “Maybe a good nights sleep will do you good?” she suggested.

“You’re right, but it doesn’t matter anyway because I won’t get one. It’s been a long time since I slept through the night without Albus by my side.” He half-expected Molly to say something – make a funny remark the Weasley way – but instead she placed a pillow on her lap and patted it.

“Lie down,” she said. Scorpius decided it was better to listen to Molly rather than fight her and did as he was told. “I know I’m not Albus, but tell me what he would do.”

“He would read to me,” Scorpius replied. He pulled out his wand and _accio’d_ a book from the desk he had been working at before. “It’s silly, I know.”

“It’s not silly, just close your eyes,” she ordered, so Scorpius did.

Molly started reading from the book he picked out, her voice surprisingly smooth and calming. Before he knew it, he was drifting off to her soft voice and was greeted by a grinning Albus in his dreams.

#

He woke a few times throughout the night, his sleep fractured by his anxiety and worry. He and Molly were both somehow sharing the common room sofa, a blanket draped over them as they slept top and tail, but every time he woke his head felt too heavy to move up to his dorm. He gave up on sleep entirely when the Quidditch team made their way out to their morning practice. He rose from the sofa, covering Molly in the blanket completely before sitting back in the chair where he’d abandoned all his work the night before.

He opened the Wizard of Oz to the page that Albus was now on, staring at the little cartoon Albus wishing he was here beside him to help. He very rarely did anything without Albus; they were joined at the hip. Scorpius’ problems were Albus’ problems and vice versa. Yet, he was alone this time, just like he was alone before, stuck for a solution with a heavy, heavy heart.

He turned back to another book he had picked up, searching through the pages for a solution – any kind of solution – that would hopefully bring Albus out of the book. But, the longer he searched, the less he seemed to be able to find something. As the sun was beginning to rise and the rest of the students were stumbling around before leaving for breakfast, Scorpius accepted his losses.

He woke Molly up before heading to his own dorm for a change of clothes, choosing to put on one of Albus’ school jumpers to feel closer to him. It had been a while since he wore a jumper rather than a cardigan, but just like his own clothes, the ends of the sleeves were slightly frayed from Albus fiddling with them too much. For the second day in a row, Scorpius left the Slytherin dorm _without_ Albus and headed to the Great Hall.

As he entered, he looked over to the Gryffindor table, seeing James and Lily already sat together, shoulder pressed together as they read from the same book. Scorpius hesitated a moment before he took a deep breath and decided to swallow his pride. He walked over to them, stopping just short of the bench and clutching The Wizard of Oz to his chest along with another book.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, gaining James and Lily’s attention. “I wasn’t being fair or really thinking about what I was saying and I was mean, I’m sorry,” he apologised again.

Lily smiled at him. “Scorpius, it’s really okay, why don’t you sit,” she gestured to the free space opposite them. Scorpius did, placing the book down on the table and pushing it towards the middle.

“Thank you for asking Molly to check on me and if you want to, I’m willing to try your idea – that is, if you haven’t found anything else.”

“Actually,” James said, “we have. There’s a spell in this book that Lily found from her first year of Charms about getting someone unstuck from something. It’s a little bit of a stretch as Albus isn’t technically _stuck_ to something, but there’s no harm in trying,” he shrugged.

Scorpius stood up. “Great, let’s try it!”

“You should eat something first,” James said but Scorpius shook his head.

“Please?” he begged, already gathering his things. James and Lily shared an exasperated look before gathering up their own things and following him out – but not before James downed his coffee.

They followed Scorpius to an empty classroom where he set the Wizard of Oz down and opened it to the correct page. He then stepped aside and allowed for one of the other two Potter siblings to perform the spell. James shrugged and stepped forward, brandishing his wand as he did.

“It might not work,” James said, “just remember that.”

Scorpius nodded, but it didn’t fizzle the hope that had sparked in his chest. James looked to them both before he performed the spell and for a moment, it was so silent they could hear a pin drop. A spark of white emitted from the end of James’ wand and…

Nothing.

The white light sparked and fizzled, just like the hope in his heart.

“It didn’t work,” Lily said, stepping forward to inspect the book.

“Maybe I did it wrong,” James mumbled, looking at his wand accusingly.

Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s a first year spell, I’m not sure it’s possible for a N.E.W.T student to mess that up.”

Scorpius shook his head and plastered a smile on his face. “Never mind, we just try again with something else. I’ve been thinking and maybe your idea about reading the book isn’t so bad after all?”

“You think?” James asked.

“I think there’s no harm in trying. Either way, Albus is stuck there so I guess we have to exhaust all our options first.”

“Okay, let’s meet at lunch again, there’s an empty classroom that doesn’t get used on the fourth floor, we can read there so we don’t get disturbed.”

With a brief agreement and farewell, Scorpius headed to that morning of class, once again lying to all his teachers about Albus’ whereabouts. The morning seemed to pass terribly slowly, classes dragging on for longer, especially with his exhaustion beginning to play tricks on him. When lunch finally rolled around and the bell rang, dismissing him from his class, he let out a sigh of relief.

Scorpius made his way to the classroom that James had told them about at breakfast, being dragged down by the weight of his bag and exhaustion. James and Lily were already there when he arrived, so Scorpius simply sat at the table they were at and set the book on the table.

One by one, they took it in turns reading through the book, watching as cartoon Albus followed them along the pages, laughing, smiling, almost excited whenever he met a new character – even the lion that jumped out of them, but Scorpius could only smile at Albus’ enthusiasm. It was a relief when they neared the characters reaching the Wizard of Oz’ palace and hopefully they would have Albus back safe and soundly.

#

“We’ve finally reached the Wizards palace!” Albus’ new friends - the lion, the tin man, the scarecrow and Dorothy – exclaimed and Albus let out a deep breath; one he felt like he’d been holding since he landed in Munchkin land. They walked towards the palace doors together, asking the guard for entry only to be told that not everyone can meet the Wizard.

Albus’ heart dropped.

“How do we get home?” he asked Dorothy, who looked at him with a saddened gaze.

Dorothy turned to the guard. “But, we need to get home!” Dorothy looked between the new unlikely group of friends and turned back to the guard, telling him the story of their journey. Of Dorothy and Albus who were far from home, of the scarecrow without a brain, the tin man without a heart and the lion without courage and the guard changed his mind and went to tell the Wizard.

The next morning, Albus, Dorothy and their friends were welcomed into the palace and led into a room, seemingly empty, until a voice sounded from the centre. “Tell me your wish!” the Wizards voice boomed, causing Albus to the jump.

One by one, they told the Wizard their wishes.

“I want to have courage,” said the lion.

“I want a brain to think with,” followed the scarecrow.

“I want a heart,” said tin man.

“I want to go home,” Albus said and Dorothy followed with a, “I want to go home too.”

It was Dorothy’s dog Toto that found where the Wizard was hiding and brought him out into view and Albus had to stop himself from demanding the Wizard to send him home. He wondered if he’d gone crazy – surely a made up Wizard couldn’t help him, but this was Albus’ world now. As long as he was stuck here, he had to play along with the story.

But what was revealed made Albus’ heart near burst.

“I am the Wizard of Oz… That’s right, I’m just a regular man. I can’t make your wishes come true by magic,” he sighed. Dorothy burst into tears, the lion was furious. Albus sighed and sat on the floor, puffing his cheeks as he rested them in his hands. Albus was barely listening when the Wizard started explaining how his friends have already granted their own wishes.

Scarecrow already had a brain and had been using it the entire time, Lion found his courage when he risked his life for his friends, Tin man felt real emotions whenever they were in danger. They already had the things they were searching for. But, Albus still had no way of getting home.

“But, I’m still not home yet,” Dorothy said, speaking Albus’ thoughts.

“That’s true,” the Wizard said, “but you have a way to get back. Just tap the ground with your ruby slippers three times and say where you want to go.”

Albus stood up. “But what about me?”

“You have a means too,” the Wizard said. “You have a wand, correct? Give that a wave, it’ll take you home.”

Albus hadn’t thought of that. He put his hand into his pocket, sure enough finding the handle of his beloved wand and pulled it out, almost shocked to see it in his hands. The group of friends made their way out of the castle and Albus felt almost sad to leave them behind. He went first, hoping the Wizard was right and it would simply work.

So, he waved his wand and wished to go home.

The world collapsed in on itself, dizziness overtaking Albus as everything spun. A kaleidoscope of memories flashed before his eyes, the events of the book coming back in flashes before he landed – rather harshly – on the concrete floor of an old and empty classroom.

“Ow,” he mumbled, rubbing his shoulder from where he landed.

“Albus!” he heard his little sister exclaim and moments later he had a mouthful of red hair as she jumped on him in excitement.

“Lils, can I get up, please?” he mumbled against her and she apologised, jumping off him and offering a hand to help him up. Albus stood and Lily crushed him in a hug again. He looked up to see James staring at him fondly and Scorpius staring at him like Albus was a ghost.

“How did you – we haven’t finished the book yet,” Scorpius said, discombobulated.

James rolled his eyes. “Scorpius, were you not paying attention?”

“But surely that didn’t work!”

“It obviously did,” James retorted fondly.

Scorpius stared at him in shock for a few more minutes before clumsily rising from his chair and throwing himself at Albus in a hug. Albus held him tight, taking in the scent of his vanilla shampoo that he’d missed so much.

“Move over, Scorpius, don’t steal all of Albus’ hug-tolerance time,” James said, pulling them apart and pulling Albus into a hug himself.

Scorpius smiled smugly. “Albus doesn’t have a hug-tolerance time with me.”

“Shut up,” James mocked, pouting at Scorpius and hugging Albus tighter. Albus rolled his eyes but stayed trapped in James’ arms for another fifty-six seconds (no, he didn’t _count)_. “Right,” James said as he pulled away. “Glad to have you back, Al, and very glad you didn’t die, even though Scorpius was convinced you would,” James said fondly.

“I was worried!” Scorpius defended.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Lily giggled, moving to Scorpius’ side and taking him up in a side hug.

“Thanks for trying to get me out, even though I did it on my own,” Albus grinned sweetly at them all, which received a punch in the arm from both Lily and James.

“Well, I have to get to class,” Lily said, giving Scorpius one last squeeze in the hug before moving onto James and finally Albus, lingering slightly longer.

“Wait, class?” Albus asked as Lily skipped out of the classroom.

“Yeah, it’s Wednesday, Al,” James said. “You were in there for two days.”

Albus gaped, stuck completely for words. He had no idea he’d been gone so long, he assumed he’d return to the hospital, not an old classroom but that was the least of his worries when he first came back – his biggest worry was trying not to be suffocated by Lily’s hair. Albus turned to Scorpius, who was stood there looking guilty.

“Hey,” Albus said softly, taking his hand. “What’s wrong?”

James muttered something about leaving them alone and also needing to get to class as he made a quick exit.

Scorpius looked down at their entwined hands briefly before looking back at Albus. “I’m sorry, it was all my fault that you got stuck there, I should never have been so reckless with leaving my wand around kids and I should have figured out how to get you out sooner, or I should have just listened to James who apparently had the solution all along.”

Albus smiled softly at him. “Scor, it’s okay! You don’t have to apologise, this isn’t your fault at all and I’m here now, right? That’s all that matters. Besides, it was kind of fun.”

Scorpius was nodding along but Albus could tell he didn’t really agree with him at all. Albus rose on his tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to Scorpius’ forehead. “Let’s talk about this later, okay? You have to go to class.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

Albus shrugged. “I’ve already missed the morning and yesterday, what’s one more afternoon?”

“Typical Albus,” Scorpius said with a hint of amusement. “I’ll come find you before dinner?”

Albus nodded and they shared another brief kiss before they left the empty classroom and went in opposite directions. Albus headed back to their dorm, trying to avoid as many people as possible. Once there, he took his time showering and changing into fresh clothes. Once settled, he opened the drawers next to Scorpius’ bed and pulled out the notes from the classes they had the previous day. He spent the time waiting for Scorpius copying the notes in his own words and catching up all he could. He’d only made it through Charms and halfway through another class when Scorpius returned from classes.

“That’s a sight for sore eyes,” Scorpius claimed. “Albus Severus Potter, catching up on work,” he smiled as he leaned against the frame of his bed.

“I had to do something whilst I waited for you to come back,” Albus replied, neatly putting everything back in the place where he found it, knowing Scorpius would freak out if they were slightly out of place.

“You could have read a book?”

“I’ve been eaten by a bookshelf and now trapped inside a book, that’s enough dangerous book activity for me and I will never read again,” Albus declared. “Are you wearing a jumper?” Albus asked. He hadn’t seen Scorpius where a jumper all year since he’d switched to the school-issued cardigans.

“Maybe, it's yours,” he mumbled.

Albus smiled and patted the bed. “Sit down.” Scorpius did as he asked, kicking his shoes off and sitting on the bed opposite Albus, crossing his legs. “You look tired,” he whispered.

Scorpius shrugged, taking Albus’ hands and playing with his fingers. “It was rough without you,” he admitted. “I didn’t sleep much.”

“Well, I’m back now,” he assured, taking Scorpius’ hands fully.

Scorpius leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Albus’ cheek. “What was it like? Like when we weren’t reading?”

“I don’t remember, I guess nothing was happening so it was almost like being asleep, to me I was only awake when the story was progressing.”

“I think trying to find a solution to get you out of there nearly drove me crazy,” Scorpius said. “I snuck into the library _after_ hours,” he gaped and Albus couldn’t help but mimic him.

“I thought you were only impulsive when I was around, turns out I was wrong.”

“It’s still all because of you,” he reminded, pushing his shoulder jokingly.

“I didn’t make you do anything,” Albus folded his arms. “Anyway, I haven’t eaten for two days; can we go get some dinner?”

“Of course we can,” Scorpius smiled. “But can I do something first?”

Albus nodded and Scorpius moved onto his knees, shuffling closer. He shyly took Albus’ cheeks into his hands and leaned forward, pressing the gentlest of kisses to his lips. Scorpius’ kisses were always like this: kind and gentle and soft, just like him. Albus placed his hands on Scorpius’ waist and pulled him a little closer, deepening the kiss in a way that Scorpius always seemed too shy to do.

When Albus disappeared into the book, the world was tilted on its axis. A world where he and Scorpius are not by each others side is a world neither of them wants to live in, but now they’re back and the world righted as they lost themselves to each other. Scorpius’ hands tangled into Albus’ hair as Albus’ hands explored the bare skin under Scorpius’ jumper.

They were broken apart by the noise of Albus’ stomach rumbling and Scorpius pulled away from him to let out a slight giggle.

“In my defence, I haven’t eaten in two days,” Albus mumbled, pecking his lips one last time.

“Let’s get you some food then,” Scorpius grinned, pulling away and standing up. He offered out his hand for Albus to take and led him out of the dorm, holding the door open for him.

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to see Wicked with me?” Scorpius asked with a grin.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not.”

Albus smiled as Scorpius’ laugh rang through the hallway and followed them down the stairs into the common room, a careless melodic sound that brought joy to his heart. Scorpius’ joy was worth a million and one galleons, a sight so rare it deserves to be captured and put in a museum. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed, would love to know your thoughts :) and thank you for reading!
> 
> The Wizard of OZ dialogue is taken directly from an audio book (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0teJ85qIqY)


End file.
